[Scene: I've arrived at the mall, just inside the entrance to Bon Ton, with Matt in the stroller. As I wait for Josh and Ben to catch up (I hurried ahead; it was cold out!), I notice Matt is waking up. I start to put a pacifier into his mouth.]
Random Weird Lady (RWL): (whisper) Cute baby. Oh, you should breastfeed.
Me: (Blank look.) What? I should wh-- wait, I DO br-- What?
RWL: You should breastfeed. Do you, do you breastfeed?
Me: Um, ...yeah. Is this your business?
RWL: Oh, that's good. You should carry a small bottle of water for him.
Me: (Blank look.) I should what? For what? Why? Because it's against the law to use a pacifier? She thinks I don't breastfeed because I'm giving him a pacifier? What does she care if I breastfeed? What if I *didn't* choose to breastfeed? What right does she--
RWL: Oh, you know what you should do? [No, PLEASE tell me.] Infant dedication. You should have him dedicated. You can have it done at (names her church).
[RWL now slides her hand out from under her oversized, yellow, pleather purse, and produces a gigantic tri-folded pamphlet, of sorts.]
Me: Oh. Are you kidding me? Did you just go from "hello," skipping "do you know Jesus?" and head right to "You need to make a very important personal decision, at my church"? I should tell her that I am very happy at my current church, and plan to dedicate my son THERE.
RWL: See? Here's the address on the back (gestures), and here's the phone number, (opening bulletin) and here are the service times, and we're on the radio...
Me: Oh, thanks. Thank you. The sooner this lady leaves me alone, the better.
RWL: You want another one? (Meaning, another bulletin from her church's most recent service.)
Me: Um, no. Nope, one's good. Thanks. What would I do with two of these?
If you're scratching your head, you're not alone. I was completely baffled. Josh was angry! Ha ha, when I told him the story, he said I should have told her that people like her are why other people hate Christians. And that I should have invited her to OUR church. Heh. I just kind of clammed up. Sort of stunned. You know? I pointed her out in the open area of the mall and Josh saw her headed for Victoria's Secret. He said she was going to save those heathens who sell underwear. Ha ha ha!
4 comments:
Oh man! I've never had that encounter, but once at Kohls, I had the stroller (because they have weird carts), and a lady was walking behind me. I tried speeding up so she could get around me, but she kept following and started talking to him. So, I slowed down, and she butted in front of me BETWEEN me and the stroller...between me and MY baby. Who do you think you are? I was surprised and miffed all at the same time. Afterwords, I noticed she worked there, so maybe she was trying to see if I was shoplifting? I also checked my purse for my wallet that was under the stroller. I was very unnerved.
Oh, I am seriously cracking up. Why do some people think it is ok to talk to others that way?! Also, your post made me think of my trip to Target yesterday. A lady pulled out her cell phone and took a PICTURE of Ella while we were standing in line waiting to check out. Seriously...I considered asking her to delete it!
LOL! WOW! I was cracking up reading this and I had to read it to Chris. However, it is sad that there are people out there like this.
thank you for the italics :) even those were much kinder than i might have been!!!
although who am i kidding. i'd have clammed up to.
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